Frizzy hair is one of the main problems that many consumers deal with on a daily basis. It is unruly hair after the loss of sleekness and smoothness. It is seen as unruly hair fibers sticking out, curling and bending out at the top of the head and from the bulk of hair to different directions as well as an increased volume through the bulk of the hair. Generally consumers experience frizz on humid days when the level of moisture in the air is high. Frizz is undesirable, messy and is often associated with the loss of shine and smoothness as well as with the perception of poor hair health. The basic mechanism causing frizz in high humid environments is that at high humidity moisture penetrates into hair and changes the intermolecular interactions between proteins inside the hair fibers. During styling, the consumer will create a ‘wet set’ where hair is blow dried or flat ironed to create the desired shape. During drying, water is evaporated from hair and hydrogen bonds are formed between the protein peptide chains holding the style in place. As moisture from the environment diffuses into hair the hydrogen bonds are broken and hair returns back to its natural shape. For consumers with curly hair who straighten their hair by blow drying or flat ironing this return to a curled style is associated with a loss of alignment and increased volume. In addition, at high moisture levels in hair the fiber diameter increases which also increases the overall volume of hair.
The typical strategy to prevent frizz is to formulate leave-on products with surface-depositing materials such as silicone, oils, conditioning materials etc. which make hair more hydrophobic and decrease inter-fiber interactions. At high levels these materials can also provide increased cohesive forces holding fibers together to prevent frizz from occurring. However in order to provide some frizz control benefits, high levels of these materials are required which typically make the hair look greasy or weigh down. If used at lower levels that don't cause the greasy or weigh down negatives (as the fibers don't have enough materials on the surface form cohesive bonds), they are not effective controlling frizz.
The present invention has unexpectedly found certain film forming silicone materials, when applied at levels not causing greasy or weigh down negatives, delivers breakthrough frizz control benefits compared to other non-film forming silicone materials. Without being bound by theory, these film forming materials work by changing the balance of the mechanic forces of hair fiber which lead to an overall force equal or greater than the internal force of hair fiber returning to its natural curl after straightening or styling (i.e., wet set). In other words, the thin film evenly distributed on the hair fiber surface increases hair fiber bending and torsional modulus that overcomes the natural internal force of returning to natural shape). In addition, these film forming silicones resist from being removed by washing, therefore delivering longer lasting frizz control and other conditioning benefits. Consequently, a need exists for a treatment product that combines effective long lasting frizz control with silky and softness benefits typically offered by silicones without being greasy and weight down, and without the crunch coated feeling caused by using styling gel or styling polymers.